The Navy SEAL mission that killed Osama bin Laden highlights the return on investment the United States gets from special operations forces, analysts said.

Special operations forces receive about $10 billion, or 2 percent, of an annual defense budget of $670 billion, said Travis Sharp, researcher with Center for a New American Security, a think tank that focuses on terrorism and irregular warfare techniques.

"Special operations have become such a large part of what we do," said Sharp. "They've come to dominate actually, a lot of the policy agendas for people hear in Washington."

The drawn-out deployment in Afghanistan proves terrorism isn't fought with 100,000 boots on the ground, said Democratic Congressman John Garamendi, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. It's deep intelligence gathering coupled with smaller special ops forces, whose skill set proves invaluable in sensitive missions targeting terrorists.

Special operations forces have been around for a while. The Army‚Äôs elite Green Berets formed in 1952 and the NAVY created the first SEAL team in 1962. Vietnam and the guerrilla warfare tactics of the North Vietnamese army made it apparent to military leaders and strategists that it wasn't about how much territory you controlled, but rather, finding and eliminating an elusive enemy.

The SEAL Team 6 was created in 1980 after a failed mission to rescue Americans in Iran. The Air Force created a special operations wing in 1983. The Marines have the youngest special forces command, which was formed in 2005.

soundoff(34 Responses)

I see that the right-wing,ignorant,foul-speaking,anti-intellectual Tea Partiers took over this web page,too. Their profanity gives them away and I'm sick and tired of it. As for the bozoes in the so-called "special operations",they're already vastly overpaid as is the rest of the military. Enough is enough!!!

You have no idea how stupid you sound. The military budget is quite different than how you think it is. Why don't you look it up?
Google that stuff and maybe you'll start to sound like you know what you're talking about for once.
And I'm not a brain-damaged Teabagger. I'm not even a right-winger.
I am here looking for dumb crap and found yours.

Bozo? Really? Sounds like you are one of those who didn't make the cut. No true American soldier would make a statement like that about someone willing to give their life for their country. What a pig!

He's the same guy who posts under Ruffnutt, George Patton, and others. He likes to hijack names...he's a troll. He's no more an American Soldier than I am the Queen of England. He's a troll that doesn't post gross filth, like some, but he is a troll.

@ banasy, I THINK:
Hello if that was you. I am so highjacked, so many times, that nobody could know my real POV here.
I'm socially liberal and fiscally conservative.
I support Obama in almost everything he's doing now, notably killing bin Laden.
I would still be a loyal Republican if the party hadn't been highjacked by the backward.

I advocate paying the elite, special operations combatants as much as the market demands.
These experts earn their money.
And now may:
"All Praise and Glory be rendered unto Them and to their Names, and to their spiritually hidden Fame and Honor, for their eternally splendid success and valor in Pakistan (which POO Be Upon)."

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